Airship.



H. THADEN.

y AIRSHIP. ArPLIouIoN FILED `11111;: 11, 1910` Patented Aug. 29; 1911.

4 SHEETS-'SHEET 1,

H. THADEN.

A?PLIOATION ILED JUNE 17, 1910.

Patented Aug. 29, 1911. f

5111 L10-1 1 fum a. THApBN.-

' AIRSHIP.

VLIPPL'IATION FI'LBD JUNE 17,1910.

. Patented Aug. 29, 1911 4 SHEETS-sunk.

HERMAN THADEN, F ATLAmL-GRGRGII AIRSHIP.

Speicatin 0l Letters-Patent- Iatented Ang. 29, 1911.

Application tiled June 17, 1910. ySerial No. 567,488.

To all whom it may concern: Y

lle it known that I, HERMAN THfAnEN, a citizen of the United States,residin at Atlanta, in the countyl of Fulton and tate of (lt-orgia, haveinvented certain new and use A ful .improvements in Airships; and I doherehy declare the following to lbe,V a full, clear, and exactdescription. of the invention, such as will enable` others. skilled', in

the art to which it appertains to make and use the sinne..

This invention relates to improvements -in to air ships ar-` air ships,and particularly ranged with lifting an,d propelling means which operatefrom one or more prime mov.-

ers and controlled to Yany'desiredextent for properly guiding andchanging the posi'- tiou of the ship.

'l`he ohjeet in view is the arrangement of eoinhined lifting andpropelling means, together with a plurality of controllersforshiftingand raryingthe action of the lifting and sired. Y

Another object of the-invention is the arrangen-lent in an air ship oflifting and propelling means adapted to co-act with lifting andsustaining planes, the planesl and lift ing and propelling means beingconneetpropelling Vmeans as may be de' ed with controlling means forvarying the arlion of the planes :and the lifting and proiellin" ineensin ro )er relation to each other for guiding, lifting and thoroughlyrontrolling the various actions of the ship.

still further object of the invention is the arrangement in an airship,of lifting and propelling means comprising a rotating sha ft having aplurality of propellers nr ranged thereon designed to engage 'the-air"llatwise on `the down stroke when lifting, and to engage the airedgewise onlthe up stroke, the propeller hlad'es heingassoeiated with npluralityr of eontrollers designed to he operated in unison orindividually for rarying the action of all of the propellers, .r anypartieular group. y

ll'itll these and other objects in view the invention comprises certainnorel construe-' tions, combinations, and arrangement of parts as willhe hereinafter more fully desrrihed and claimed.l

ln the aemnupauying drawings: Figure l is :l side elerntion ofan uirshilp e|nlmdyingthe invention. l"ig. 2 is a c etait fraginentarypei-.speel ire view of the central part the air ship, she-wing thecontrollers and operating levers.

,tains 'plaisent invention a framework Fig. 3 is a fragmentary sectionalview through the front half of the upper part of the air ship, showingthe alrrangement of planes .and controlling eur- Fi 4 1s an enlargeddetail fragmentary vlewof one of the controllers. Fig.

5 is a fragmentary sectional' view through part of the propelling shaftshowing the.

arrangement .of thereciprocating bar `and means for shifting theposition of the'- propeller blades. F ig.- 6 is an enlarged detail.perspective view of one of. the controlling 'levers for regulatingtheaction of the controllers. Fig. 7 is -an enlarged detail 'perspectiveview of. a controlling lever used for varying the action of'lthecontrollersat the front of the machine. Fig. 8 is a. side elevation ofone of the controllers and surround ing parts. l `1`g..9 is alongitudinal sectional view through Fig. 8 approximately on line9-9thereol Fig. 10 is a section through the` controller shown inV Figs.S and 9', approximately on line 10-10 of Fig. 9.V

Invforuiing an air ship-according to' the of any desired kind may beprovided, hraeed in any desired mannerfor forming a'strong andrigidsupport. To the upper part of the -franleworlc is connected a. pluralityof planes'arranged at angles to the general di reetionof thefra|ne\\'orl AM'ranged at the front of each of -the planes are, aplurality of curtains foreontrolling 'the amount of air pressureperlniteiI to' en gage the `respective planes.y the curtains heingcontrolled hy suitable ealilezs extending to the operators position.Arranged at. :luy desired dislaneeflnelow the planesl is a propellershaft on euelrside of the .lranieworlg to eaoh'of' whieh are eounertednplurality of propeller blades. '.l`hese propeller shafts may lie'(friet-ated from a single sourre ol'l power or frolu 'u plurality ofsonrrfes ot power if desired. "lhe propeller sha fis extend for the fulllength of the. framework and each contain :L ieeiprmaiting har which ispreferably divided into independent seetions. llueh ot' these sectionsof the reciprocating har are eonneeted with :l ':ontr'ol ler, which iuturn is vnunet-ted willi u eoutrollinglerer so that all ot theeoutrollers, and eonsequeutly all ofthe propeller hludes, luay hecontrolled as desired. l'n order to steer or guide the air ship thefront' sections of propeller hlades are arranged tio he controlledindepemlently of the rear sccof the machine.

tif.

Athese.

' curtains may be'used to a.'

-caused to lift planes 2 tions and also independently .of cach other, fso that the front ot the air ship may be pointed upward or from `oneside to thei other as desired. The controllers are ar- I ranged to causethe propeller blades to uct as lil'tiug means lor theiair ship when heldl in' one position, and to act as propellingi means for forcing forwardth'e air ship whemheld in another position, so that the I air ship maybe raised and moved as desired I independently of the. planes or incombinationtherewith, the planes being brought into operation preferablyonly'when noving substantially horizontally. When the planes are in useas snpportingimembers the propelli ng' means are `used' as means forforcing iorward the ship'and not: as lifting means ldivi tions iscontrolled described. In the.draw

unless the ship is moving very slowly.-

In order that the. invention may be more clearly understood anembodimentof the saine is shown in the accompanying drawings, in which 1indicates a frameworr' which may be formed of any desired mate; rial andwhich is designed to be provided with suitable. braces for firmlysupporting the various planes andthe various moving pa rtsi Connectedwith the framework' 1 are a plurality of lifting and sustaining planes 2which 'may be arranged at. anywlesired angle.' Arranged at thefrontofleach of planes are one'or more curtains 3. The curtains arehinged at 4 so that unless' positively prevented they will move backagainst f the planes 2 when the air presses against the ift sa'me.' Thiswill vpermit the planes to act freely in their normal way, but if itshould hc desired at. any time to prevent the planes from aetingtllecurtains may he closed by operating cablesi and cables 5 operating thecurtains at the front of the -machine and cables ttoperating thecurtainsat. therear Preferably there are. two curtainspfor each plane, aml anoperating cable 5 for each setof curtains, so that the 'ist in turningrthe machine hy'closing one side or the other ac cordiiigto the.direction it.- is desired to turn the machine. 'lhe cables 5 areconnected l with lever so that` when lever 'T is moved to the righty thecurtains on the left will be closed. and when lever 7 is moved to theleftV the curtains on the rightwill be closed. At the same time that:thc respective right aml left. curtains are closed the iropellers` l onthe right and left side of the machine are cansed to lift. 'lhat is whenthe curtains on the left side of the machine ar` closed the propellerblades on that side are caused to lil't instead of urge the machineforward, and when the curtains'on the'right side are closed thepropeller blades on that. side are' instead of urge the ship fori i i il l l t ward.

Arranged any desired dist-ance beneath are propeller shafts 8 and 9. The

anv desired place,

' secured together ings four controllers are description as l0,

propeller shafts S and D are formed tubular and extend for the entirelength of the ship, so that the prime mover 10 may be located and yetrotate the propeller blades at; the -desired speed. Preferably power isconveyed from prime mover 10, thrf. ugh chains 11 8 andtl' Then the sizeof the air ship necessitates comparatively long shafts 8 and 9 4the samemay be divided into sections and rigidly secures the seccausing thesaine to act Arranged in each of 9 is a. reciprom'embcr 13 which tionstogether for as a continuousshaft. the propeller shafts 8 and eatin"lrbar 14, which bars ed into sections, each of which seeby a controllingdevice hereinafter fully n disclosed, and consequently fourreciprocating sections are used. By this means each bar may becontrolledjndependently rocating bars 14 are provided with an aperture'15 for' each of the propeller blades. The apertures 15 are beveledpreferably at an angle-c1545 degrees for accommodating the movement ofpin 1Q, which is rigidly secured to the shaft 17 of 4each 'of the pro-`l neller blades 18. 'lVhen the reciprocating bar 14. is in the positionshown m Fig. 5 the blades` 18 engage the air atwise on the down stroke,andedgewise on-the up stroke. Tf it is desired to cause vthe propellerblades tov art as means for. forcing the ship forward the. reci procatngbar 14 is moved for c ansf incr pins lli to extend at a substantialright angle to the general direction of bar 14, which will set theblades 18 at a 45 degree angle which will give the-maximum for.- wardimpulse.

'lhe cont rollers, as'more clearly shown in Figs. -l and 8 to 10inclusive, are loosely mouundnpon the shafts S and SL and also are madeidentical so that. the description nf one will be sullicient. for moreparticularly to FigsLt and 8 to 1Q inclusive there is disclosed acontroller which will be designated for the purpose of and whichcontroller is of like constructiol'i as controllers E20., E l and 'lhecontroller 19 comprises sleeves 23 and 24 which have coacting camsurfaces 23 and 2li for cnnlging a projection 27. Projection 27 isformed with plus 38 and 29 which are rigidly secured to har 'Il andwhich carry anti-frictiou rollers Il() and 3l. The outer ends of pins .8amblfl are eonneeted by a suitable link 3i so that the pinsl will act:as a unit for forming a rigidwprojection whie-lnhas anti frictionmembers thereon. These designed to engagethe cams 5 and lli so as toperlnitt.tlic.cams to cause. a. proper reciprocation of the bar tlforproperl \Y setand l2 to the shaftsby a. coupling sleeve orare preferablyif desired. The reeipanti-friction members` arel its ting the blades 18at the desired anglerl Surronrnlingr sleeves Q3 and 24 are sleeves 33and 34 whichl sleeves are in ellcct rings. 'lhe sleeves 23 and 24 areloosely mounted on shaft 8, and sleeves 33 and 34 are loosely. mountedon sleeves Q3 and SA. Ini order to: causo a proper movement of the camson sleeves 28 and 24, and also to bring into action sleeves 33 and 34when the cams are thrown outl of operation, connecting memlhers 35---35and 3(3--36 are provided. The

.of ,members connecting members 35i-35 are rigidly secured at one end tosleeve 33 and at lhe other end to sleeve 24, while members 36--36 arerigidly secured at 'one' end to 'sleeve Q3 and at the otherend to sleeve34. -By this arrangement whenever 1nen1bers135-35'and 36--36 are nlovedlongitudinally of shaft 8 and inopposite directions the c ams25 and 2Gwill more apart but sleeves 33 and 34 will move together, so that asprojection 27 rotates the same will engage part of 'one of/the cams 25or 2G and engage sleeves 33 and 34 .tor a partial rotation if the camsare moved a short. distance apart. j

ln order to control the act-ion of the cams and sleevesl a pair of links37"-37 and 38-38 are pivotally connected to the ends of .mem-

l bers 36--36 and a pair of links 39-39 and l0- l0 are pvotallyconnected to the ends 35 35. Links 385-38 dand l0-fl() are pivotallyconnected tbget-heriby a pin 4l which extends through aperturesfItlim-'lf2 in ba rs or guiding members Z13-43. Links 37--37 and 32P-39are pivotally connected together by a pin 44 which extends through barsand is slidingly mountcd in slots 4.1-4.3. One of the bars 43 is boltedto cross braces 4G and -l7 by bolts 48 and 4f). 'Bolts 48 and 4t) passthrough sleeves 5t) and 5l and through both'bars 43 and braces 46 and4:7, so as to-lirinly hold in position both of the bars 43 and provideample support for the pins -ill and 44. One ot' the links used foropening and closing the canna, nalin-ly link 37, is lenglliened to anydesired extent forming a handle or level'. '`o the oulceend of link 37is sei-tired cable 52 which is connected 'with cable 53. A' cablesimilar lo cable 52 is also con. ncclcd with cable 53, and extends downto thc lcvcr nr long link of controller 20, so that. when cable 523 ispulled both of the ccnlrollcrs Vll and 2() will be operated' forllnowing the caans 5 and Qlleinto operation. When cablc 523 is releasedthe projection 27 will automalimlilv lorce'aparl. the ea-lns 25 and L'tand al the saine time. [orce'togetller sleeves l and ill leaving onlysullicient- :qi-n c :':elxscen the .saine for the free rotation of llle,projection.

('able 53 passes upward over pulley aud l'roln lhcncc lo lever 5U.Connected to lever .76 is a second cable 57 which acts simisectionandthe rear section-nre 'llalrto cable 53 except that the same passes 58and moves cables 59 and 60- o'ver pulley for actuating 'controllers 21and 22 on the opposite sideof the machine to controllers 1.() and 20.Lever`56 is pivtally mounted at (31 and cables 53 and-57 are secured tothe lever on opposite sides of its pivotal point, so that a pivotalmovement 1n onedirection will pull both cables'53 and 57 and a pivotalmovement in'the opposite direction will release both cables. Forinstance, if lever 5G had the lower end thereof swung to the left bothcables will be pulled, but if swim in Atheopposite direction botheables'wi be slacked. In pulling ca bles 53 and 57 the respective levers37 of the. controllers will be pulled 4or raised pivotall 'for throwingthe cams into operation'.- n'. order to hold the cams properly 1noperation asfloug as desireda pivotal member or 'paivl 62 ispivotall'r'connected' with lever 58 and-is formed with teeth 63 whiclrengage acteh'or tooth 64 ri idly connected `-with one of thecross bars othe framework. This tooth and ratchet construction permits a freemovement of lever 56 in such a direction as -to pull cables 53 and 57but will not )ermit a. return thereof until pawl' 62 has een liftedv.out of engagement with tooth or catch-64. Then the controllers areheld to act in the position shown in Fig. 8 the' blades 18 of the pro-.pellers are acting -in such a manner as to lift thev machine 'so lthatin order to hold the corn rollers in position for causing the bladestocontinue a lifting motion all that is necessary isto move lever 56 tothe left an'd allow paw] 6:2to hold the Liever in that position. j Whena, sufficient height-'hasl been attained and it is desired "to movelongitudinallypawl (32 is raise'dand lever 56 permitted to take itsnormal position and sleeves 33 and 3ft-of the"controlle`rs permitted tocontact with the projection 27.` If it should be desired to causethc-blades 18 to give a. lifting and slightly propelling action 'lever56 could belnoved only a' short distance to the left and; held in thatposition by pawl 62. t

In guiding the air Vship the sanleis'caused to turn to the right orleft-as desired by' causing one side of'the 'front .section or'propcllers to lift, wlule therernamln front the machine in" a' forwarddirection. .In order to control and regulate-the 'action of each of thefront sections independently ofthe rear sections, acont-rolling or guiing,r lever 'is provided. Lever 7 is 4connected with part of theframework by a universal joint't (Figs. 2 and 7), so as to permit a freemovement in any direction of the lever according to what may be desired.

' Connected with lever 7 at any desired distance from joint (36 arecables G7 and 68 i is moved to the right cable 68 is pulled and 4cable67 loosened, so that only controller 2 will he operated for causin thesection eontrolled thereby to lift. This will cause the machine to tnrnto the left. The movement of'lei'er 7 to the left will cause-"themachine to m'ovc to .thevright Cables 5 5; are also connected with`levers 7 at snbstan-j tially the saine point as cables (S7-'and 68, sothat when either of the citliles 67 -or G8 is pulled one of the cables 5willvbe pulled tor chasing the curtains on that side ofthe inaehine. Theclosing of the ciirtains will dest-ro)v the lifting and sustaining'powcn' of the planes on that side of the machine which will hecounter-balanced by the lifting' of the blades 18 on that side of themachine, so that, as far as that particular side 4of the n'iaehinc isconcerned, it. is not given either an upward .or a forward motion, whilethe remaining parts of the machine are hven a forward motion. This willcanse t e ma# ehine to tnrn.- l

lVlnit I claini is: l. -ln an air ship,- a framework, a p inralit).y ofhollow longitudinal rotating v neen-d with the propeller blades forconlrollingthe. angle at' which the propeller blades operate, cams formoving and controlling "the reciprocating bars, a 'lever ineehaiisni formoving the cams -intio and out. of operation, and a' sli'dably monntedsleeve arranged onreach of said cams for inaii'naining the bars in afixed position for eausng t'he propeller blades to oi xrate at. apredetermined angle after. the ca is have been moved out. of operation,ln an air lsliip, a framework; a. plyrality of longitudinalI ilYdisposed hollow rotating shafts, means for rotating said shafts,propeller blades connected with the shafts, a reeiproeating liar foreach of said shafts und connected with the propeller blades for `ontrolling the angle at which the. propcllers operate., a pin projet-.lingfrom cach of said reeiproeatiiig bars. a pair of'ainsdngtiveen "lndinalmotion ol' said.reciprocating bar Ais ,-ereat'ed.

pivotally mounted means for maintaining the bars in a tixed positionwhen the eaiiis have been moved ont of operation for cans ing thepropeller blades to operate at a predetermined angle.

3. In an air ship, a frame, a plurality of longitudinally f' disposedhollow rotating shafts, mennsffor rotating the shafts, pro peller bladeslconnected with the shafts, a reciprocating-'bar in each of the shaftscon nected 'withjthe propeller blades for controlling the' angle at.which the propeller trolling the reciprocating bals', means forlthrowing' t-he bar moving and controlling means ont-of operation, andaplurality of sleeves for maintaining Vthe bars in 4a fixed operate at apredetermined angle.

longitudinally disposed. hollow rotating shafts, men-ns for rotatingtlielsliafts',-,propeller bla desconnccted with the shafts, a re'-ciprocating bar for each of the shafts and. connected with the propellerblades :for coni blades operate, cams for moving and contmlling theaction of the reciprocating bars, means for throwing the cams.ont ofopertaining the-bars in a. fixed position when.. the cams'have beenthrown out of operation Afpr causing the propeller blades to operate:at'rapredetermined angle. ."nln an air ship, a framework,` a. pair -ofrotatable shafts extending longitudinally shafts, propeller .bladesarranged along snbstantially the entirelcngth ofl said shafts, a.plnrality of controllers for the .propeller )lades of cach of saidshafts, 'and a siziigle means for varying the action of said con-Atrollers;

rality of propeller blades for raising and propelling said framework,means for actuating said Vpropeller blades, and a. conpropcller lilades,s.l.id controller comprising a pair of eanis, means for slidinglymoving' i saidca-ins for, varying the action thereof,

shafts for controlling the. position and acengafginej each olsaid'lugsfor controlling blades operate, means for moving and con- 4. Inan air Ship, a frame, a plnrality of;

trolling 'the angle at which the propeller' ation, and a plurality 'ofsleeves for main-I of said framework, means for rotating said (l. ln anair .ship,'a framework, a pln. A

titiller-.for controlling the action of said tion ol" Isaid propellerblades; a lug projecting from eaeh ol said liars, and :i controller'position for causing the propellerblades to* gl ipoo reeiproeating bararranged in each of said.'

44by said lugs are permitted a' free rotary :the notion thereof,| each;of said. controllers movement and prevented any longitudinal 10comprising n pair of csi-ms adapted to engage `suidlugs for moving thesume longitud inail` movement.

In testimony whereof I affix my slgnature 111 presenceof two witnesses.

HERMAN THADEN.

of said shafts, a pail' of sleeves for hol ing said lugs-againstlongitudinal movement, and means for Simultaneously ,moving said 'camsfrom said lugs and for moving said Sleeves against said lugs, Where-Witnesses LUCIEN H. THADEN, E. T. FnNwIoK.

